There are many scenarios under which a user may be required to adjust the volume output of a television to ensure that the sound level at the user's location is loud enough to be audible to the user, while not being excessively loud so as to provide an unpleasant listening experience. For example, the average and maximum volume levels may vary significantly from television channel to television channel, as set by the cable distributor. The average and maximum volume levels of a particular television channel can also fluctuate significantly with changes in programming; e.g., the volume output of a television may increase above a comfortable listening level during commercial programming that has an increased average volume relative to the primary programming. As a further example, the user's location relative to the sound's origin may vary; e.g., the distance between the user and the television may vary as the user changes seating position or otherwise moves within a room. As a still further example, the level of ambient noise produced by sources other than the television may vary significantly depending upon, for example, the time of day.
In each of the above scenarios, a user is typically required to adjust the volume output of the television to maintain the volume within a desired range and to compensate for changes in listening conditions. Thus, while the burden is significantly lessened through the use of a remote control, a burden is still placed on the user to continually adjust the volume output of the television to maintain the volume within a desired listening range. Although certain freestanding devices have been developed to further ease this burden by preventing the volume output of a television from increasing above a predetermined maximum decibel level (e.g., 30 decibels), such devices are relatively costly, occupy additional space, and require additional interconnections between freestanding components.
There thus exists an ongoing need to provide embodiments of a remote control and a method for automatically adjusting the volume output of a television (or other audio device) to compensate for variations in listening conditions. Preferably, embodiments of such a remote control would maintain the television volume, as detected by the remote control, within a desired range. Ideally, embodiments of such a remote control would be relatively inexpensive to implement, would utilize a minimal number of components (e.g., a single microphone), and would function independently of other electronic devices. These and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent Detailed Description and the appended Claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings and the foregoing Background.